Citizens group still wants Madden out of Melrose YMCA post
By Travis Andersen
Town Correspondent
The citizen's group Melrose Cares is planning to start a petition drive early next week to oust YMCA vice president Nancy Madden.
Patricia Wright, a local attorney who started the group, said that while YMCA president Richard Whitworth's resignation was good news, Madden also must go.
"It's not over yet," said Wright, adding that her group would start knocking on doors next week to gather at least 200 signatures on a petition demanding Madden's resignation. The group will then mail the letter to the YMCA board, she said.
Wright said Madden should go because she hired James Conner - who now stands accused of sexually abusing two YMCA children - even after hearing reports of his indiscretions at other places.
Madden did not immediately return messages seeking comment, but YMCA spokesman Doug Bailey said the circumstances of Conner's hiring remain unclear, despite the assertions of Wright and her group.
"They don't have all the facts, and we don't have all the facts," Bailey said. "So jumping to conclusions before the facts are out is a mistake."
Madden joined the YMCA as a part-time employee in 1989, according to Bailey. He said YMCA lawyers have instructed the staff and board not to comment.
Wright had announced plans to picket outside the office of YMCA board chair Mary Sexton to demand the resignations of Whitworth and Madden. She said Friday that she reneged on the plan after local officials "read me the riot act." Wright declined to identify who pressured her not to protest.
Mayor Robert Dolan said he hasn't spoken to Wright in over a year, and he has no idea to whom she was referring. He said he has no stance in personnel decisions at the YMCA.
"Their core purpose is to provide services, and I think they will continue to do that," he said.
In a statement released Thursday, Whitworth said he would resign to help the community heal in the aftermath of the sex abuse scandal. He has served as YMCA president since 1979.
Citing unnamed "insiders," The North Shore Tab, a local blog, posted on Friday that Whitworth would either withdraw his resignation in September, or the board would reject it.
There is no truth to the report, according to Bailey.
"No," he said. "Absolutely not."
For more coverage of Melrose, including the YMCA story, go to boston.com/melrose
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I WILL GLADLY SIGN YOUR PETITION. IT IS ENLIGHTENING WHEN JUSTICE IS DONE WHEN CITIZENS CONTINUE TO PURSUE SENDING A MESSAGE THAT THERE ARE
CONSEQUENCES EVEN FOR THE HIGHER UPS.
You cannot believe the compensation that these YMCA people get for heading up local non profit organizations. The Brockton chapter executuve gets 260K and the Quincy guy gets $225K for heading up a work out facility. These guys/gals are way over paid for the respondsibilties and skills that they bring to the table. I am thinking the job market could easily replace these individuals with replacements quite capable at half ther salaries.
Thank you Mr. Whitworth. Your resignation will in fact help the Melrose YMCA and the community begin the healing process. Although the true fault in all of this is Jim Conner, we need to see a heartfelt commitment from the leaders of the YMCA. With your resignation, we feel you have placed the YMCA's future first and foremost. For that, we thank you and wish you the best.
Richard Whitworth has made more than $160K plus benefits, according to public 501(c)3 records. Also, he has used a local vendor for YMCA-Melrose Computer Services that he is part-owner of. It's all in the public record. His No. 2 makes less than half of what he does.
Jack I think you are out of you mind. First off the YMCA is not a work out facility alone. They provide many other services to the community. It takes a highly skilled individual to coordinate all of that. Its not a job for just anyone. It also takes more than the 40 hours a week to run a facility like that. It a 24 hour a day job. They can't just go to social security for an hour and pick up a check like you do.
@Jack: You simply do not have a clue about these people's responsibilities. I'm not defending their actions, I am defending their salaries. In an age when cops are getting $150K, $250K doesn't seem like a whole lot when it comes to their responsibilities: budgets, personnel, fund raising, etc. If you offered that job for $125K, you'd get someone totally incapable. Six figures doesn't mean what it used to.
I live in Melrose and have been following this story. I was having a very difficult time trying to understand why Whitworth and Madden were refusing to step down when clearly it was in the best interest of Melrose and the YMCA. Now I find out that Whitworth has been there 30 years...and Maddon for 20 years...and they are possibly making over $200K/year EACH. Well no wonder they have clawed to retain their positions....it was in THEIR best interest, not the best interests of the families or children of Melrose. Why don't the news outlets run salary reports of these types of public positions, as opposed to focusing on how much money city police are earning working 80-100 hour/weeks? It's great news that Whitworth finally relented and hopefully Maddon will soon. Keep fighting to get her out and let's get some new blood into the Melrose YMCA leadership. We need energetic, idea-people with integrity and the highest standards. I am sure that we could find someone to fill all of the requirements of the positions for half of what the current team was making.
""They don't have all the facts, and we don't have all the facts," Bailey said. "So jumping to conclusions before the facts are out is a mistake."
I think it would be good to get the facts out on record before you go taking someone's job away.
Why do I suspect Ms. Wright is one of the woman standing around talking at the gym, sitting on equipment and talking not working out. Maybe it's time for her to go?
Murph, you've got to be kidding me! "Six figures doesn't mean what it used to"? Are you serious? I'm a teacher making five figures. I have three college degrees, including a law degree from a Boston area law school. I'm fluent in English and Portuguese, proficient in Spanish, a world traveler, eager to learn. Hire me and you wouldn't get someone "totally incapable," I promise. There might be a steep learning curve if I were to take over but I'd do it, I'd work long hours (like I've done for the past 16 years) and save the city a lot of money. I just wish you were in charge of hiring. I'd love to have you sitting across the table when it came time to negotiate salary and benefits and perks.
The last resort of angry people is getting personal. The grief here has nothing to do with these people's salaries. $200k for someone with more than 10 years running a non-profit and fund raising does not sound crazy to me. Actually sounds about right. However, that is not the issue here. The issue is with their performance, specifically in hiring key personnel.
You sound bitter when you attack salary and you lose credibility. Same thing when people complain about the conduct of a police office on the job and then turn to an argument about details. Irrelevant.
Hey Boots, why don't Dick Whitworth, Nancy Maddon, and Mary Sexton make all the facts known. THey've been equivocating for months and rivaling the Catholic bishops for stonewalling. Baily, their PR guy, certainly does have all the facts. Whitworth and Maddon knew they were hiring a creep and they hired him anyway. To them, it's only "one child" who got hurt. Well thank I God it wasn't my child, and no thanks to the Y officials for that mercy.
I do have one correction to make with Travis' story. It was not an "official" that told me we should not picket Mary Sextons office. No city official made any comment to me. Picketing her office was an idea from one of our members and quite frankly a good one but one that I cannot be involved in. But I can generate a petition for any concerned citizen to sign demanding that the Melrose YMCA board fire Madden. I’m sure the globe would welcome the effort to publish this signature campaign. I’ll have it ready over the weekend.
The news here is that Wright has a history of 'stirring the pot' in Melrose - first going after Superintendent Casey's head for an error in judgement, now the Y management for another error in judgement. I'm sure she's considered doing the same with Travis Andersen's 'alleged' misquoting her. I say alleged b/c as an atty, she cannot condone an illegal act - picketing. So, after she thought better of it, she conjured up that she was misquoted. Because if you read the Anderson article, it's quite a misquote that Wright didn't tell him - "Wright had announced plans to picket outside the office of YMCA board chair Mary Sexton to demand the resignations of Whitworth and Madden. She said Friday that she reneged on the plan after local officials "read me the riot act." Wright declined to identify who pressured her not to protest." Just another opinion - seems like SSDD with Wright.
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